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Borneo 2026
  • Mags and Dave Bazley
  • Mags and Dave Bazley

Borneo 2026

An open-ended adventure by Mags and Dave Read more
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  • Trip start
    August 17, 2026
    Mags and Dave BazleyBorneo 2026Traveler
    1

    First day

    August 19 in Malaysia ⋅ ⛅ 34 °C

    Well, today was a big day starting with the Sepilok Orangutang Sanctuary. This is where the staff take on abandoned or illegally caught Orangutans and try to rehabilitate them so that they can return to the wild. The rangers provided food for the Orangutans and we watched them come down to feed. They were joined by a number of pigtailed Macaques.
    We then moved on to the Sun Bear sanctuary where the staff look after illegally caught Sun Bears. We saw many, but unfortunately looking down on top of them.
    This was followed by a visit to the Rainforest Discovery Center. It was a pleasant walk through the Sanctuary and along the tree top walkway, however there wasn’t much to see. Possibly due to the time of day.
    We finished up with a visit to the Sandakan War Memorial. This commemorates the tragic Sandakan Death marches of WWII and the efforts and support provided by the local people. It was brought closer to home as our guide had lost a Great Grandfather and 2 Great Uncles in the conflict.    Read more

  • Mags and Dave BazleyBorneo 2026Traveler

    Sandakan to Bilit Rainforest Lodge

    August 20 in Malaysia ⋅ ⛅ 33 °C

    We left Sandakan and visited the Proboscis Monkey Sanctuary, arriving at feeding time.
    We had good views of 3 males. The family troupe were off in the forest and hadn’t been seen for a few days. We also saw a few Oriental Pied Hornbill.
    We then drove 2 hours on a good bitumen road to the water taxi for Bilit Lodge.
    Our route went almost exclusively through Palm Oil plantations. Some of these had replaced rubber plantations, however there was plenty of evidence of areas of jungle that had recently been cleared and planted with Palms.
    After a short water taxi ride we had some time to ourselves in the Air-conditioning as it was very hot and humid.
    Bilit Lodge is on the Kinabatangan River. In the late afternoon we took a game viewing trip up the river seeing a number of birds and a couple of Pigmy Elephants.
    On our return the heavens opened and it chucked it down with rain along with thunder and lightning.
    Our guide - Brenden - set up a WhatsApp group page and we are able to benefit from some of the great photos taken by him and fellow travellers with good cameras.    Read more

  • Mags and Dave BazleyBorneo 2026Traveler
    Maroon LangurBaby OrangutanLong tailed Macaques

    Kinabatangan River

    August 21 in Malaysia ⋅ ⛅ 31 °C

    We rose early for a boat ride on the Kinabatangan River.
    Leaving at 6am the mist was still on the river.
    We saw a variety of wild life, including, Proboscis monkeys, long tailed Macaques, a few crocodiles, a number of Oriental Pied Hornbills and a couple of Black Hornbills - amongst others!
    After breakfast we took a short drive to Gomantong Cave, spotting a number of monkeys along the way including a couple of Maroon Langurs, which are not particularly common. Gomantong cave is home to a number of species of bats and also swiftlets who build their nests in the cave. When the swiftlets young have hatched the locals harvest the nests which are used to make birds nest soup.
    The walk to and from the cave went through rainforest and Mags was in her element.
    On return to the car park we were lucky to see a female Orangutan with her baby.
    After a lazy afternoon we took another trip on the River.
    Again we saw a large variety of wildlife, various monkeys - in large numbers - crocodiles, a variety of birds, including hornbills, blue throated bee eaters and a Hawk Eagle.
    We had fantastic sightings of Pygmy Elephants as they cooled off in the river and one Elephant swimming across the river using its trunk as a snorkel. 2 of the Elephants had very long tusks that curved back towards their shoulders.
    All in all a really fantastic day.    Read more

  • Mags and Dave BazleyBorneo 2026Traveler

    Bilit Rainforest Lodge to Mt Kinabalu

    August 22 in Malaysia ⋅ ☁️ 25 °C

    We took the water taxi to our coach and then drove for 3 hours with a couple of stops to a fish foot massage. The fish were pretty heavy on the massage as you could feel their teeth scraping away. In fact they actually drew blood on one of our group!
    Adjacent to the fish foot massage was a small market where Mags was able to purchase a very nice basket to add to her collection.
    From there it was a short drive to the Sabah Tea Estate where we had an enjoyable lunch followed by a very “interesting” tour of the tea processing factory, guided by a rather eccentric man who treated us all like delinquent 5 year olds.
    We weren’t allowed to take photos in the processing factory. Given the age of the machinery it seemed more likely that antique dealers would be interested in the gear than trying to protect any secret processing process. Some lucky members of the party managed to escape the tour through exit doors along the way.
    We then drove on to our overnight stop at the Kinabalu Pine Resort, which on a clear day gives views of the 4,095m high Mt Kinabalu, unfortunately it was very hazy on our arrival.
    Our drive again passed through a lot of palm oil plantations.
    Before dinner we went off in search of a walk but were defeated by a lack of footpaths along a very busy road. We did go past a few plant stalls selling a variety of succulents.    Read more

  • Mags and Dave BazleyBorneo 2026Traveler
    1Yellow breasted warblerBorneon fork tailPin head orchidBauhinia relativePinheaded orchid

    Mt Kinabalu to Kota Kinabalu

    August 23 in Malaysia ⋅ 🌙 29 °C

    We awoke to a clear day with great views of Mt Kinabalu.
    The first stop was the Kundasang War Memorial Park. This was a very sobering experience, commemorating the Sandakan Death Marches of WW2 where 2,400 British and Australian POWs were marched 260kms through the jungle with only 6 men surviving.
    In addition there were many locals who also died trying to assist escaped POWs and resisting the Japanese invaders.
    The memorial had Australian, British and Borneo gardens and a wall of remembrance for all the POWs who died.
    What a tragedy.
    Next we visited the Kinabalu National Park and the botanical gardens. Mags was in her element as we walked around looking at orchids, pitcher plants and other exotic plants. One of the orchids was tiny and is in the photo with Dave’s hand. There is a photo of a “corkscrew vine” which is a relative of the Bauhinia.
    We then made our way to Kota Kinabalu - the provincial capital - with a stop at a handicraft market along the way.
    We were afforded many great views of Mt Kinabalu as we drove around it on our journey.
    Our final hotel was the Hilton hotel which was a definite step up from some of our initial hotel.
    In the evening we walked into town, along the harbour front and through the local market. The fish section was really interesting with unbelievably large crayfish.
    We ended up at an Irish pub on the water front and had a very nice western style meal - not that our meals had not been good, in fact quite the opposite but rice and multiple cabbage dishes with each meal was different to what we are used to.    Read more

  • Mags and Dave BazleyBorneo 2026Traveler
    HornbillHornbillWallace's Hawk EagleBlue fronted bee eater

    Manukan Island snorkelling and other photos

    August 24 in Malaysia ⋅ ☀️ 31 °C

    After an amazing buffet breakfast - which had European, Indian, Korean and Malaysian dishes along with fruits and a wide selection of pastries - we took a short ferry ride to Manukan Island in the Tunku Abdul Rahman marine park just off the cost from Kota Kinabalu. The park is name after Malaysia’s first Prime Minister following independence.
    Dave snorkelled from the beach and saw a wide variety of fish. There was a small amount of coral.
    After lunch we returned to our hotel and sought out a very clean and efficient laundromat which cost us the princely sum of AUD$12 for all our washing. AUD$6 to wash one T-shirt at the hotel was tearing the ring out of it.

    I have added some great photos taken by some of our travelling companions who had good cameras.    Read more

  • Mags and Dave BazleyBorneo 2026Traveler
    Making fireBaby's cribMurut warrior

    Mari Mari cultural village

    August 25 in Malaysia ⋅ ☁️ 30 °C

    We visited the Mari Mari cultural village. The village has traditional houses for the 5 major tribes in Sabah:
    Kadazan-Dusun
    Bajau
    Murut
    Rungus
    Lundayeh
    The Murut were the most feared and were head hunters. Head hunting ceased about 100 years ago.
    We sampled traditional food, toured the traditional houses, witnessed some of the traditional customs and watched traditional dancing.
    After a sundowner in the evening we went out to a delicious traditional Malay meal.    Read more

  • Mags and Dave BazleyBorneo 2026Traveler

    Kota Kinabalu to Mt Kinabalu

    August 26 in Malaysia ⋅ ☁️ 23 °C

    We caught an Uber to the airport to pick up our hire car. The Uber was the princely sum of AUD$3 for the 15 minute ride!
    We then drove south from Kota Kinabalu before turning back in land. This was a much longer route but gave us a better feel for the place. The route skirted around the Crocker Range. Having said that it did pass over its southern end with some steep climbs.
    West of the Crocker Range is much drier as it is in the rain shadow.
    We passed through a number of rice paddies along the way.
    The last section of our drive was a short cut and the road was mostly bitumen, but with quite a few short sections of gravel where the road had been washed away. There were also many sections where the road was subsiding and slowly slipping down the hill. Not a road to drive in the dark!
    We got to our digs in the mid afternoon. They were a significant downgrade from our previous accommodation. Going from 5 star to -2 star!
    We went off to the Mt Kinabalu Park office to check out hiking trails for the next day and went round a very good museum on the local tribe’s traditional customs and the fauna and flora.
    As our digs didn’t have a restaurant we went into town and found a good Chinese restaurant.    Read more

  • Mags and Dave BazleyBorneo 2026Traveler
    From our window

    Mt Kinabalu

    August 27 in Malaysia ⋅ ☁️ 20 °C

    We rose in search of coffee and managed to find a cafe that did good tea and a good breakfast, unfortunately the same couldn’t be said for the coffee.
    We did an enjoyable walk through the forest at the base of Mt Kinabalu, 7km and 660m of elevation.
    We took a drive up to the local golf course. The course is in a great spot with Mt Kinabalu in the back ground. The club house is very grand, but unfortunately harks back to days gone by. It would have been great to play the course as it looked in pretty good shape, unfortunately they didn’t have any clubs we could hire.    Read more

  • Mags and Dave BazleyBorneo 2026Traveler

    Mt Kinabalu to Kota Kinabalu

    August 28 in Malaysia ⋅ ☁️ 31 °C

    We decided to throw the towel in with our digs in Kundasang and head back to Kota Kinabalu.
    Enough of comparatively expensive accommodation with thread bare towels, sheets with holes, mattress with springs sticking out and a toilet which doubled up as a shower.
    We did find a very nice cafe in Kundasang with lovely views towards the Crocker Range. In chatting to the proprietor it transpired she had studied Biomedical Science at the University of Queensland. The whole complex was very well maintained and restored our faith in Kundasang. We were just unlucky with our choice of accommodation.
    In the Kundasang area the farmers grow a lot of vegetables so the markets are full of veggies. This is also the durian season so the heavy smell of ripe durian drifted over the markets.
    We wended our way to Kota Kinabalu stopping at a market along the way. The drive was fairly slow due to the traffic.
    We went out to a fish restaurant in the evening recommended by the cafe proprietor and had a very nice red snapper and noodles, unfortunately our lobster didn’t quite match up.    Read more

  • Mags and Dave BazleyBorneo 2026Traveler

    Kota Kinabalu

    August 29 in Malaysia ⋅ ☁️ 32 °C

    We had a very enjoyable game of golf at the Sutera Golf and Country Club.
    The course has 27 holes and the fellow directing the players did a good job of keeping people moving.
    Having said that, the course was very quiet for a Saturday and we had neither players right in front of us nor right behind us.
    Having teed off at about 7:45 we were glad to finish up by about 11:00 as it was very hot.
    We enjoyed a relaxing afternoon in the Airconditioning    Read more

  • Mags and Dave BazleyBorneo 2026Traveler
    Executive transport
    Executive transportMono Filia single leaf plantPoison dart tree

    Kota Kinabalu to Mulu

    August 30 in Malaysia ⋅ ☁️ 33 °C

    We caught a flight to Mulu in Sarawak after dropping our hire car off at Kota Kinabalu airport.
    Driving in Sabah was pretty straightforward.
    Our flight to Mulu was 50 minutes on a 70 seater plane with only 8 passengers.
    When travelling to Sabah or Sarawak you have to go through immigration even though these are all states of Malaysia. This was an agreement struck at independence and applies to peninsula Malaysians as well. It is to protect jobs for Borneo residents.
    We were met at the airport by our “executive” bus to take us to the Marriott where we were staying!
    In the afternoon we reboarded our bus and took a tour to Lang and Deer caves with our guide.
    You walk along a 3km boardwalk through the jungle past many large trees including Meranti and trees whose sap is used to tip poison darts used by locals for hunting wildlife.
    Lang cave has a lot of impressive stalactite and stalagmite formations. There was one stalactite that had 2 fine water columns flowing down from it.
    Deer cave is home to about 3 millions bats. This cave has great banks of bat guano which has a VERY strong ammonia smell. The cave is named after deer who came in search of the guano and the salt that it contains. The entrance to the cave has a lot of tall fish tail palms, so called as the leaves resemble fish tails. The cave is massive and is over 150m high. We walked along a board walk for 800m and reached what is called the garden of Eden at the back of the cave where the cave opens into a sink hole.
    After exiting the cave we waited for the bats to leave the cave in their “swarms” in search of insects. We could see a few small swarms but unfortunately not the massive one we hoped to see. All the while a number of Bat Hawks circled overhead in search of a feed.    Read more

  • Mags and Dave BazleyBorneo 2026Traveler
    2Pinnacle rock formationPygmy squirrelBats with Bat Hawk

    Gunung Mulu National Park Day 1

    August 31 in Malaysia ⋅ ☁️ 26 °C

    We tool a long boat with our guide from the hotel to explore the Wind and Clearwater caves.
    The 30 minute ride on the river was very enjoyable and even more so as we were the first people on the river.
    As you entered the Wind cave you could hear the clicking sound made by the resident swiftlets as they found their way around in the dark. Both caves had quite a number of steps leading both up to and through them.
    The Clearwater cave had an 8 m wide river flowing through its base.
    After exploring the caves with their numerous stalactites and stalagmites we had a very nice packed lunch made by our guide’s wife.
    The river was very shallow in sections and the boat driver had to thread his way through the shallows, pulling up his outboard motor on a regular basis.
    In the afternoon we went back to see the bats leaving Deer cave and were well rewarded with many swarms of bats over about 20 minutes. The last photo includes a bat hawk chasing the bats.    Read more

  • Mags and Dave BazleyBorneo 2026Traveler

    Gunung Mulu National Park Day 2

    September 1 in Malaysia ⋅ ☁️ 21 °C

    We left early from the hotel to take the 7:00 Tree Top Walkway tour. This went along 420m of walkway high up in the forest anchored by some very large trees.
    The experience was well worth it.
    I wouldn’t have been game to sign off on the overall structural state of the walkway, but so long as only one person was on each walkway at a time then they felt pretty good.
    On the way back to the park station we climbed up a high viewing tower.
    Unfortunately we didn’t see any wildlife from either the walkway or the tower.
    In the afternoon we went on an 8km loop through the rainforest and past a small waterfall.
    Mags was in her element in the rainforest, even if the temperature was 30 degrees and 98% humidity.    Read more

  • Mags and Dave BazleyBorneo 2026Traveler

    Mulu to Kuching (not quite)

    September 2 in Malaysia ⋅ ☁️ 33 °C

    We went off to the airport to catch our flight to Kuching at midday, but no cigar.
    The visibility has been steadily getting worse since we arrived in Mulu, due to fires in Kalimantan (the Indonesian side of Borneo).
    None of the flights could land at Mulu because the pilots didn’t have sufficient sight distance. So, given the weather and the fact that our flight out of Kuching would take us back through Mulu, we decided to change our flight to Kota Kinabalu tomorrow in the hope that the incoming flight could land.
    On return to the hotel we were lucky to get an upgrade to a suite. There are a lot worse places to be stranded.    Read more

  • Mags and Dave BazleyBorneo 2026Traveler

    Mulu to Kota Kinabalu

    September 3 in Malaysia ⋅ ⛅ 31 °C

    The weather was far clearer first up with the sun even casting a shadow - which was not the case yesterday. So, fingers crossed for our flight.
    A lot of the people from the cancelled flights were swopping stories and making tentative enquires regarding an overland route which involved a 40 minute boat ride followed by a 6 hour journey in a 4x4 to Miri and then a 30 minute flight to Kota Kinabalu.
    Luckily all the incoming planes arrived, to much raucous cheering and clapping in the departure lounge.
    So off to Kota Kinabalu, a relaxing afternoon and a dinner at the Irish Pub.    Read more

  • Mags and Dave BazleyBorneo 2026Traveler
    Sharks fins
    Sharks fins

    Kota Kinabalu

    September 4 in Malaysia ⋅ ☀️ 32 °C

    Booked 18 holes of golf at Sutera Harbour Golf and Country Club which was just under 15mins from the hotel.
    Had an enjoyable if somewhat warm round.
    Passed a street vendor selling shark’s fins while walking to our dinner at the Irish Pub on the water front where we watched Friday night NRL live on the screen in the pub.Read more

  • Mags and Dave BazleyBorneo 2026Traveler

    Kota Kinabalu to Lahad Datu

    September 5 in Malaysia ⋅ ☀️ 32 °C

    What better way to start the day than with Malva pudding?
    Mags was very happy and helped herself to…… well, less said the better.
    The previous day we had bread and butter pudding which Dave enthused about, amongst the myriad of other offerings available for breakfast at the Hilton.
    Our flight got us to Lahad Datu and we caught a cab from the airport to the hotel. The cab had to have been at least 50 years old and the boot didn’t quite fit our cases, but luckily neither fell out along the way. Our 2 star hotel was rated as the plushest in town by Lonely Planet. It was reminiscent of ones we had stayed in India years ago.    Read more

  • Mags and Dave BazleyBorneo 2026Traveler

    To Tabin Wildlife Reserve

    September 6 in Malaysia ⋅ ☁️ 32 °C

    We were picked up at our hotel at 8:00 for the 1 1/2 hour drive to Tabin. The drive took us through more palm oil plantations.
    Having settled into our room we sat on the balcony overlooking a little stream and the surrounding forest.
    We were soon rewarded with good sightings of some Gibbons swinging through the trees.
    Shortly afterwards a 2m monitor lizard slowly swam down the stream.
    All the while pig tailed Macaques moved back and forth.
    In the afternoon we went to a mud “volcano” where water slowly bubbles up through the mud. This brings with it salt that attracts the wildlife. Whilst we didn’t see any animals we could see quite a few hoof prints in the mud.
    After dinner we went for a night drive and saw a variety of animals including civets, flying squirrels, a slow loris and a bear cat. They were all pretty hard to photograph.
    The black flying squirrel we saw gliding from one tree to another was very special.    Read more

  • Mags and Dave BazleyBorneo 2026Traveler

    Tabin Wildlife Reserve

    September 6 in Malaysia ⋅ ☁️ 27 °C

    We took an early morning walk and were rewarded with sightings of the resident troop of Gibbons high up in the trees.
    We also saw a couple of Hornbills including a Rhinoceros hornbill with its large “horn” on top of its already large beak.
    In the late morning we took a walk to a waterfall where along the way we came across some civet scat with coffee seeds in it. This would probably fetch a few bucks in some circles. We followed this up with a foot spar and mud facial, which was a bit of fun. In the afternoon we took a game drive where we got soaked for our efforts in a downpour and unfortunately for little return.
    After dinner we did a night walk, again with no reward.    Read more

  • Mags and Dave BazleyBorneo 2026Traveler

    Tabin Wildlife Reserve to Lahad Datu

    September 8 in Malaysia ⋅ ⛅ 33 °C

    We did our early morning walk and saw the resident troop of Gibbons and a large flock of Rhinoceros Hornbills.
    After a relaxing morning watching the Gibbons from our veranda we departed to Lahad Datu.
    We took a walk around the town. We had really only seen it last time in the dark and the daylight didn’t improve it! It was a step down from all the places we had seen to date, including a few street kids and a few beggars with their hands out which we had not seen previously.
    As we wandered around town and through the market we were the only tourists around, much to the surprise of the locals.
    We had supper at the same Chinese restaurant we had used previously, which was next to our hotel and very well frequented. This was an interesting affair as the menu was all in Chinese, the proprietors spoke little English and our Chinese and Malay was sorely lacking. However they were VERY friendly and we had a very good meal.    Read more

  • Mags and Dave BazleyBorneo 2026Traveler
    Slow Loris
    Slow Loris

    Lahad Datu to Deramakot Nature Reserve

    September 9 in Malaysia ⋅ ⛅ 33 °C

    We went to reception to get a cab or ride share to the airport for our flight to Sandakan. There was an old man in an old tee shirt, shorts a thongs hanging around in the lobby who seemed to be ordering people around. The fellow behind the counter was in the process of ordering our transport when the old man said he would take us as the airport was on his way home. So, out we go. He had a new double cab, and it transpired his son owned and ran the hotel. Again looks can be deceiving!
    As we flew into Sandakan it was obvious that they had had a lot of rain very recently.
    We were surprised to be met by a fellow in a taxi instead of a 4x4. It became apparent that the taxi would take us for 2.5 hours and we would meet another vehicle (4x4) who would take us a further 3 hours.
    The last 3 hours was on a gravel road with some VERY muddy sections needing the 4WD as slipped and slid along the road.
    Our accomodation was basic, but adequate, with power from a generator for 10hrs a day.
    In the evening after supper we went for a 3hr night drive and saw number of civets, fruit bats, a red flying squirrel - briefly in flight - and the best was a slow loris which lived up to its name by slowly moving down the branch while we got a great view through our binoculars.    Read more

  • Mags and Dave BazleyBorneo 2026Traveler
    Red Leaf Monkey
    Honey TreeBuffy Fish OwlStick InsectsRed Leaf MonkeyBlue Throated Bee Eater

    Deramakot Nature Reserve

    September 10 in Malaysia ⋅ 🌧 30 °C

    We went on an early game drive, but without much luck spotting any wildlife.
    It was however very enjoyable driving through the great jungle and looking at some of the many species of ginger.
    One of the very tall trees was very popular with wild bees who built their nests high in its branches. Many years ago locals had hammered spikes into the trunk so that they could climb up and access the honey combs.
    Our guide - Adi - suggested that we went out at 3:30 for a late afternoon / evening drive.
    This started out as a bit of a wet affair, but we were rewarded with a very good sighting of red leafed monkeys and a number of flying squirrels, including a pigmy flying squirrel which is rarely seen and our guide was very excited.    Read more

  • Mags and Dave BazleyBorneo 2026Traveler
    Agnes Keith's houseEnglish Teahouse

    Deramakot to Sandakan

    September 11 in Malaysia ⋅ 🌧 30 °C

    We went out for an early morning walk from the camp spotting a Serpent Eagle on a power pole just as we started. It was an enjoyable walk including a section of suspended walkway. Mags decided to give it a miss due to the proliferation of leeches, which we all managed to attract!
    Our drive back to Sandakan was much easier than the drive in as the gravel road had dried out a lot.
    In Sandakan we took a walk on a section of a self guided walk in the town. We went up the 100 steps to visit Agnes Keith’s house. Agnes and her husband Harry - who held a number of senior positions in the Forestry and Agricultural departments - lived in Sandakan from 1925 to 1952. Agnes wrote a number of book’s about Borneo with her most notable works “Three came home” documenting her time on Japanese POW camps during WW2 and “Land below the wind” about what was British North Borneo - now Sabah. Afterwards we went next door to the English Teahouse, with a lovely lawn around the grand old colonial building, for afternoon tea and scones - very nice!
    In the evening we had supper with the Romanian couple who had been with us on our game drives at Deramakot.    Read more

  • Mags and Dave BazleyBorneo 2026Traveler
    12

    Sandakan to Kota Kinabalu

    September 12 in Malaysia ⋅ 🌧 30 °C

    We took an early flight from Sandakan, picking up our hire car and slowly wending our way to the Nexus Resort about 30kms north of Kota Kinabalu. Nexus has an impressive main building, with the resort set in very nice grounds on the sea shore.
    We went for a walk along the beach and had a very enjoyable Chinese meal for dinner, where we were the only people in the restaurant.
    Although the resort could accommodate approximately 600 guests it was virtually empty, which was such a shame.
    It had been built 30 years ago and although most aspects were very good, the golf facilities were showing their age and lack of regular maintenance.
    However at AUD$150 for B&B it was excellent value!    Read more